Metrum Acoustics Amethyst DAC/Amp Impressions

It's R2R, so needs time for the temperature to stabilise in order to get the best from it. Can wrap in a blanket if you are impatient, or encourage your cat to sleep there

Pavane manual says allow 3-4 weeks for burn in.

Like Torq, I don't believe burn in, or even warm up, turns a bad DAC into a good one. I would still take a cold Yggdrasil over almost anything else. It does change in character significantly during the first couple of hours though.

 

Thanks! For the sake of clarity, I should have asked something more along the lines of:

Does the Amethyst need to be on for 24+ hours to reach its potential like the high tier Schiit DACs?

My MHDT DACs tend to only need an hour or so except when brand new.

 

Comparing this to my Atlantis+ isn't going to be a particularly simple affair. I left my second Eitr at work so I have to use USB until Monday unless I get impatient and grab it from work tomorrow (unlikely with family in town).

Using the same cables for both the Amethyst and Atlantis going into a Schiit Sys then the Garage1217 Project Horizon III and Sennheiser HD650s.

So far, the Atlantis is actually winning. It has been on for over 24 hours with a short reboot before starting the comparison. The Amethyst has been on for a bit under 2 hours now.

The Amethyst has better soundstage and is less colored, but the Atlantis has nice forward mids that complement guitar music very well. There might also be ~1-2dB higher output on the Atlantis, which would completely negate all of my thoughts so far.

I'm going to have to digitally attenuate the signal and volume match by ear (very quiet white noise, adjust the digital volume [bleh] until I can barely hear it on each).

This is all via USB. Once I get the other Eitr home I have no idea where they'll land.

NOTE: I scrambled the RCA cables so I had no idea which went to which DAC, plus I have no clue how the button on the front of the Sys correlates to the rear inputs anyway. I listened to portions of a dozen songs that I'm very familiar with, switching between them and marking which of the two I preferred. Every time it was "button depressed," which I discovered was the Atlantis.

Edit: The Amethyst renders cymbals and the strike of a piano key better than any non-oversampling DAC I've heard. Most tend to go a little more splashy.

I'll do a proper set of impressions later. No need for me to keep crapping up the thread with first impressions.



Just realized I never explained the above. Left is Amethyst headstage, right is Atlantis+.

I'm preferring the Amethyst for rock music at the moment. I no longer have a decent oversampling DAC, but I usually prefer those for rock to NOS, but prefer NOS for acoustic guitar and classical.

Remember when you couldn't hear a difference between DACs? That was a less expensive time.

Update #Something
Now also comparing the MHDT Labs Orchid and Amethyst. The Orchid and Amethyst are closer in sound than the Atlantis+ is to either. I'm just using the Orchid stock (R1 chip, GE 5670 tube) for the comparison. The Orchid has roughly equal stage width and slightly more stage depth than the Amethyst. The Amethyst has better separation and decay with tighter bass. I'll compare the Amethyst to the Orchid with the better chip and tube at some point.

Also, the Amethyst does benefit from warm-up. It's not congested by any means when initially powered on, but switching between a warm (24+ hours) Atlantis and cold Amethyst, I got the sense that my ears were unplugging or becoming decongested when going to the Atlantis. That sense went away when the Amethyst was left on overnight (and, in fact, I'm getting a bit of that sense with a cold Orchid vs. a warm Amethyst now).

 

Isn't it sort of apples and oranges? The MHDT has a tube buffer stage adding euphonics that won't be present in an all bipolar amp stage...

 

I'd take this over a stock Atlantis also. Too soft and muffled in comparison to the modded one.

Once I volume match I expect the story to change.

 

Summary of about 8 hours of listening and doing A/B tests all night and morning...

• The Amethyst is awesome.
• So is the Orchid.
• So is the Atlantis+.
• I prefer the Atlantis+ for most acoustic guitar music, followed by Orchid, then Amethyst.
• I prefer the Amethyst for most rock, followed by Orchid, then Atlantis+.
• Jazz is often a tossup, with the Amethyst winning if there are lots of horns.
• I go back and forth between all three for a lot of classical. If there are a lot of cymbal crashes, the Amethyst wins. Wide, enveloping strings tends to favor the Orchid. Things in-between go for the Atlantis+.
• Soundstage: Orchid has the most depth, very similar width to Amethyst. Amethyst has a fairly wide/deep soundstage for NOS. Atlantis has the smallest overall soundstage of the three (which for headphone listening can be pretty engaging... this isn't always bad).
• The Atlantis+ is the cleanest of the three in overall sound, followed closely by the Orchid (which actually takes over that position with a better DAC chip and tube than I used in the comparisons), then the Amethyst. Clean isn't always good--for rock, I actually prefer for things to be a little less clean.
• The Amethyst is the thickest and wettest sounding without actually feeling slow. Dense tone but it's still easy to pick out individual instruments. The Atlantis+ is probably the thinnest even with mods, but it's not as thin or dry as the stock Atlantis.
• The Orchid has the most air of the three, with the Amethyst having the least by a small margin.
• The Atlantis+ and Orchid both exhibit a bit of the splashy sound with cymbals that I expect in most NOS DACs. The Amethyst does these with a less splashy sound.
• Separation and ability to identify different instruments goes to Amethyst, then Orchid, then Atlantis+. This goes hand-in-hand with volume differences between instruments. For example, in some Bucky Pizzarelli tracks you can hear foot tapping. It's clearly not part of the core track on the Amethyst, but gets integrated into the song more on the Atlantis+. It's also much more audible on the Atlantis than the Amethyst (sometimes you can hear it on the Atlantis but not the Amethyst unless you turn the volume up a bit).
  • It also makes it really hard to judge between the DACs--If you volume match the main sound between Amethyst and Atlantis+, everything else is a bit louder on the Atlantis+, making you perceive it to sound better. If you volume match the overall sound, the Amethyst sounds better because the main part of the track becomes quieter relative to the rest of the track on the Atlantis+.
• Dynamics and reaction to volume changes: Amethyst wins here, with Atlantis+ and Orchid (stock) a bit behind.
• Advantage or disadvantage: You can't get tube nervosa with the Amethyst. The Atlantis and Orchid both respond quite a bit to tube rolling, and you can find yourself doing this way too often. If you enjoy rolling tubes, it might be an advantage for MHDT. If you're susceptible to tube indecision, it might be a disadvantage.

In short, the Amethyst is the most versatile of the three. If you can only have one NOS DAC, it's probably the one to get, and its headphone out doesn't suck.

It's soon to call it for me. Either the Amethyst or Atlantis+ will be going at some point (I'm modding an Orchid right now). I might end up listing an interest check and will sell whichever sells first unless I can definitively decide which I prefer over the course of the week.

 

The Amethyst is a bit softer with less bass impact than the SFD-1 MKII or SE+ (I've had both... and want another SFD-1 MKII SE+). The Sonic Frontiers DAC is probably my favorite oversampling DAC I've ever used, definitely my favorite I've owned.

If you're unfamiliar with NOS DACs, the Amethyst is a great introduction to them, albeit a not-inexpensive one. It might make more sense to go lower on the totem pole to something like a Starting Point Systems DAC 2 or 3 (Hands has a DAC 2, I have a DAC 3) to get an understanding of what you'll get with NOS. Given, it's going to be less of just about everything than the Amethyst apart from musicality, but you won't spend $1000+ only to discover that you prefer oversampling.

 

Does anyone know of a better A/B setup than the Schiit Sys? I'm convinced that it's not 100% transparent. Depending on which inputs I use, I tend to prefer whichever is in the "pushed-in" position most of the time. My Sys might just be too used/abused at this point to be completely transparent, but I thought it was such a simple setup that it wouldn't color anything or change the volume or anything.

I'm now going to phase 2: Use the Metrum Amethyst via the Schiit Eitr for at least a few days with the MHDT Atlantis+ set aside. After that time, switch to the Atlantis and see what's missing/gained/lost.

 

@Hands this one? Is there another you'd recommend with line level adjusting of high quality?

http://www.sescom.com/product.asp?item=SES-AUDIO-AB&SES-AUDIO-AB

Maybe something like this?

http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/071178-Rolls-MX42

 

In my opinion, based on my limited experience, and to my particular taste (you can thank Jason Stoddard for baking that into my brain), the Metrum Amethyst is an excellent NOS R-2R DAC. Keep in mind that my thoughts here are in the context of non-oversampling digital-to-analog converters unless otherwise noted.

I've heard and owned quite a few DACs--though fewer than @Hands--and favor NOS DACs for their musicality and subdued treble, which I am particularly sensitive to.

My listening tests were performed using a Garage1217 Project Horizon III as the amplifier going into Sennheiser HD650s. I used speakers as well, but they aren't detailed enough to base proper impressions on them. The competing DACs were MHDT Labs' Atlantis (modded) and Orchid (stock).

To cut right to the chase, I'll say the Amethyst is the most versatile NOS DAC I've owned to date. It's also about as together as I've heard a DAC (parroting @Marvey and @Hands here, but I'm assuming what I'm feeling in cohesion is the same thing they mentioned).

The Amethyst is able to dig in and present ample detail in music that tends to be tough for a lot of NOS solutions. The Holo Spring Kitsune is about the only non-oversampling DAC I've used extensively that does a better job of it.

Compared to the Atlantis+, the Amethyst is less forward sounding and a touch softer. Both are musical DACs, but the Atlantis wins on euphony with the right tube and mods applied. Accuracy? Nope, but sheer toe-tapping musicality born of its coloration and tendency to compress music (like a guitar compression pedal if you're familiar with them), it makes things sound full and engaging.

Compared to the Orchid, the Amethyst actually sounds surprisingly similar. I'm not sure if the chips in the Amethyst are tuned to sound similar to the TDA1541A or what, but without an A/B switch I couldn't definitively tell you which DAC I was listening to between them (whereas I can identify the Atlantis+ against the other two almost immediately). The Orchid has a little bit more air and feels a little less dynamic, but that could be due to the tube.

Back to largely discussing the Amethyst on its own.

It has a nice, thick, liquid presentation. Warm and smooth, organic, and a bit soft around the edges. The overall soundstage is very good for a NOS DAC, excelling more at the perception of width than depth.

One interesting thing about it is that there are a lot of small nuances in music that the Amethyst presents, but in a way that is quieter than I'd expect to hear the details. That sounds confusing, so I'll give an example:

The Bucky Pizzarelli Trio's "Three For All" is a wonderfully-recorded acoustic guitar album. In many of the songs, you can hear a foot tapping along with the music. With many DACs, you can't even hear it or it blurs together with the rhythm and you can't pick it out. With the Atlantis+, the foot tapping almost becomes accentuated and is very obvious. With the Amethyst you can hear the foot tapping even more clearly, but at a lower volume.

Circling back to a central question: Did I keep it? I was really unsure whether I preferred the Amethyst to the Atlantis+ overall. It's clearly more versatile and is the clear choice for rock music. That said, I find the Atlantis+ to be a bit more engaging with acoustic guitar music, and that makes up a large chunk of my listening at home.

Ultimately, I decided to do an interest check for both. The Metrum Amethyst is worth more than an Atlantis, even heavily modded like mine is (you never make your money or time back on mods). Despite my attachment to the Atlantis+ having put a lot of time and effort into modding it, I was willing to list both. That says something.

In the first day of the interest check, I had a local cash offer for the Metrum Amethyst. Welp, I guess that's that. I don't think this will be the only time I own a Metrum Amethyst.

Feel free to ask any other questions you might have about the Amethyst. I'm sure I missed a few sections that people might be interested in, like blackness of background (it's quite black. The Atlantis+ has a bit of a grey background in comparison).